Lucas’ got nothing on Abnett and Lanning.

At this point, my infatuation for DnA’s Cosmic Marvel Saga needs no
introduction, nor do the merits as to why I love it so.  For those of
you who may have had your heads stuck in Earth for the past few years,
however, here’s some advice: Look up. What you will find is a series of
laser dogfights and explosions blending with nebulas, peppered by the
blast of superpowered energies. This, as Peter Quill (a.k.a. Star-Lord)
puts it, is just another quiet day in space.

Now, things are starting to get cranked to 11.

When the first act of an epic begins, it usually does one or two
things: display the key pieces and players, and more than often manage
to have the inciting incident somewhere in the first act (or, for
comics, somewhere between the last page of the first issue, and middle
of the second issue). Some comic events – Secret Invasion, most
recently – manages to do both to some extent, and even escalate the
inciting incident to the point where the story is already in a dire yet
gripping state. Unfortunately, this more than often leads to premature
peaking, and the rest of the story pales in comparison to the first
issue. (Then Norman Osborn shoots the Skrull Queen in the head and we
move on with our lives.)

Abnett and Lanning, however, have crafted a first act that manages to
both reveal all the essential characters from the two rival royal teams
– the Shi’ar (who are now under the rule of Vulcan) and the Kree (who
are now under the rule of the Inhumans) – in a way that warmly welcomes
(back) any newcomers to the saga, as well as fans who are already loyal
crew of the U.S.S.D.N.A. While Nova and the Guardians are not present
at the moment – don’t worry, they will assuredly have their time – both
sides are already at the forefront and frontlines, with action and
destruction aplenty already.

All the while, Paul Pelletier illustrates the epic with precision and
passion. It’s easy for me to instantly admire someone who can fit in
these many, physically-varying characters in one page, but to do so
while also having the skill to create sincerely beautiful pages (re:
Krystal getting ready for her big day) amazes me. A book like this
depends so heavily on its visuals, so I am thankful to have someone
like Pelletier on the job.

I’ve gone this far without going into a series of expletives and
mindless, ecstatic rambling, so I will quite while I’m ahead and
strongly suggest this book to anyone who needs to take a vacation from
earth, or is just in need of the new Star Wars.